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The message that I wanted to
share with you tonight is

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a pretty simple and straightforward one
and I'm going to try and do it fairly

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briefly and then we can do some Q.

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And A. And that is that George Washington
did not fight the Revolutionary War

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to free the East India Company or the
billionaires in Europe. And that Abraham

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Lincoln did not fight the Civil War to
free the corporations. The big railroad

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corporations and the land barons and
whatnot. You know most of us take this for

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granted we think that you know this is the
history that we know and understand but

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the fact of the matter is that the Supreme
Court over the last thirty years has

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asserted that both of those things that I
just shared with you are not true that

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George Washington actually did fight
the Revolutionary War to protect the

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billionaires of Europe and that Abraham
Lincoln fought the Civil War to free the

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corporations and you know I was thought he
fought the Civil War to free the slaves

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but apparently not if you
ask Judge Scalia so as

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a consequence of this. We
are experiencing right now

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a genuine crisis of democracy in
the United States we have you know

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very very low voter turnout
and it turns out you know

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a lot of people yes them why don't you
show up to vote and they say well because

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you know second a matter you
know sometimes they get

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a little sophisticated in you know well
it's you know both parties are bought off

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or twiddle Dallman twiddled the or whatever
but really ultimately at the bottom at

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the at the at the end of the day what they
say it is that you know I don't choke to

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vote because it's not going to matter
because it's the top one percent or at the

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worst the top ten percent who get what
they want legislatively it's the special

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interest groups who get what they want
legislatively it's the big corporations are

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get what they want legislatively it's not
me and now I just in the last month or so

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. It was first name I think it was Nathan.

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Yeah I had him on the radio on Tuesday
pretty His first name but anyhow Dr Guillen

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of Princeton University.
Just came out with

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a study where they they went back and they
looked at over twenty thousand pieces of

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legislation over

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a twenty some odd year period or to those
be the legislation written twenty year

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period and what they found was that in
fact it's true that what the fiftieth

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percentile wanted what average Americans
wanted what the tenth percentile wanted

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what poor people wanted didn't happen I
mean you know that it would it would happen

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or not happen at

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a rate that roughly corresponded with
random chance whereas what the top ten

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percent wanted or what special interest
wanted or what corporations wanted happened

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consistently this is not the
definition of a democracy

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a democracy should be you know there's these
first three words in the Constitution

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we the people that that
is a democracy that's how

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a democracy should work
and. So Martin Martin

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Jol Guillen's his name fact actually
you know about that. We've been here

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before this is not the
first time we've seen

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a crisis of democracy the last time that
this happened was at the end of the last

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gilded age and we are now in the new gilded
age as you probably heard many times in

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the last build age was in the late one
thousand century and you had the robber

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barons and they basically controlled
Congress fact they bought members of the

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Senate you know the Senate was not directly
elected it was they were appointed by

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the States and its people would literally
buy their ways in it when of the U.S.

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Senate and and the people
rose up in revolt there was

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a great crash in one thousand nine
hundred six and in large part as

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a consequence of that crash we
saw and then it was followed by

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a war the Spanish-American War
and the outcome of this was

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a. Populist and progressive rebellion.
And that populist and progressive

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rebellion led to some substantial changes
in one thousand and nine the act was

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passed for example Teddy Roosevelt the
Republican president passed the Tillman Act

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which made it a felony for

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a federal official to give money to any
political candidate for federal office

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there were laws passed in virtually every
state in the United States that made it

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a crime for anyone to give money to anybody
for any political purpose that they

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have

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a copy of one of these laws this is this is
just incredible. This is an actual state

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law this is from Wisconsin tell
it to Scott Walker it. This was

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on the books I mean this is one that came
out of that progressive backlash era and

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it wasn't taken off the books until
the one nine hundred fifty S.

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And here let me just read it to you very
straightforward no corporation doing

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business in this state shall pay or contribute
or offer consent or agree to pay or

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contribute directly or indirectly any money
property free service of its officers

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or into our employees or thing of value
to any political party whatsoever

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organization committee or individual for
any political purpose whatsoever or for

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the purpose of influencing legislation of
any time in order to promote promote or

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defeat the candidacy of any person for the
nomination appointment or election to

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any political office and
then the pedal. Of the.

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And this this wasn't just gee wouldn't
it be nice Here's the penalty phase any

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officer employee agent attorney or other
representative right now there is even

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a lobbyist anybody. Who shall violate this
actual be punished upon conviction by

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imprisonment in the state prison for

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a period of not less than one or more
than five years and if they do mess to

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corporation may be dissolved and if

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a foreigner nonresident corporation its
right to do business in the state is

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forfeit. Of the of the

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of the we knew how to respond

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to corruption by big corporations and
wealthy individuals and we did it and it

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wasn't just the Tillman Act It wasn't
just laws like that we had many states

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Washington State is one of them passed
laws allowing or alter their constitutions

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allowing people to go around the legislature
and directly change or affect their

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laws many states while at

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a federal level we passed the direct election
of Senate so that we get to elect our

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senators women got the right to vote this
all came out of this I mean there's the

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and these By the way those two things were
constitutional amendments people say you

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can't amend the Constitution you know it's
you can it's not that difficult and in

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fact during the last progressive populist
revolt when we needed to take back

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democracy from the whack jobs we did it
and so you know it and we did it quite

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quickly actually I mean it
was basically it took about

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a generation it took about two decades our
current crisis however is in many ways

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more severe than that crisis was.
Because back then you didn't have

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a Supreme Court saying that George Washington
fought the since the Revolutionary

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War to protect the East India Company in
the billionaires in Europe and he didn't

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have

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a Supreme Court has said that Abraham
Lincoln fought the civil war to protect the

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corporations back then you know there was
no doctrine that corporations or people

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or the or the you know there were trying
write the Santa Clara County nine hundred

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eighty six and several of the decisions
but they really really didn't have

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corporate power back then like that and
there was no idea that money was protected

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by the First Amendment and the corporations
were protected by the fourteenth

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Amendment in fact in one thousand in one
thousand nine hundred seventy six in

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a case called Buckley versus
Vallejo. The which was

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the beginning of the end really of the
idea that money and free speech are

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different things it was the beginning of
the blending of the two but even in that

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decision they didn't go that far instead
they said that money was quote. The you

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could much that you could you could regulate
money in the political process because

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you could regulate conduct and it was

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a regulation of conduct to regulate money
rather And now the Supreme Court of

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course says Are you trying to regulate
money in the political process you're

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regulating free speech and you know I didn't
know that money was speech I mean I I

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just I don't hear that many things coming
out of my wallet or out of my pocket it's

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not. There now let us oh look
it's it's it's not happening. But

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all right changes Citizens United and
McCutcheon and corporations have become

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people and money has become speech. And.
You know the same time the money has

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become speech in the corporations become
persons there's an interesting history

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that goes back to eight hundred eighty
six. When the Supreme Court didn't decide

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that corporations are people but the clerk
of the court John Chandler Bancroft

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Davis said that that it did in

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a head note and that's been
quoted forever and I wrote

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a book about that called an equal protection
and it's like the biggest scam that's

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been forced on the American people but in
addition to that. We now have you know

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a whole series of Supreme Court decisions
since that time that have basically you

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know ratified that notion that
corporations are people and.

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This the modern era star hood with

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a fellow by the name of Louis Paul and in
one thousand and this is this gets to the

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crash of two thousand and sixteen this is
about the middle third of the book. In

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one nine hundred seventy one Lewis
Paul was a tobacco lawyer in Virginia

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a nice soft spoken guy. Who is
actually very gentle and he was

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a jet southern gentleman but he
worked for the tobacco industry and

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a few years before that

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a couple of big things that happened one
was that Rachel Carlson had published

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Silent Spring in the sixty's in the mid
sixty's and produced this incredible

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movement this incredible backlash
of people saying no wait

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a minute you know I want to know what's
in my food I don't want these pesticides

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things so that happened and then on top
of that you had Ralph Nader published

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a book called Unsafe at Any Speed and
about how the car companies didn't give

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a rat's patootie about us they just
wanted to make a profit and that sparked

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a consumer movement and so suddenly corporate
America felt under siege. And Louis

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Paul being

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a tobacco lawyer could see what was going
to happen twenty years out the future I

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mean you know he could literally
see the future but he had

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a sense of what the way things were going
and that you know the way things were

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going was that you know that the we the
people were going to come after them so he

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said here in this memo to two Eugene sindoor
his next door neighbor and friend at

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the U.S.

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Chamber of Commerce he said we've got to
get politically active the Chamber of

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Commerce has to get politically active up
until seventy one the police chamber of

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Congress of COM of Commerce had
always just been basically

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a business organization the U.S.

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Chamber of Commerce had not been

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a political organization prior to that point
and so. What what he was saying was we

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have to capture the courts and the
judges this led to the creation of

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a federalist society we need to we need
to create think tanks to influence public

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influence public opinion that led to the
creation of the Heritage Foundation and

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others we need to take over the schools
and now we have colleges all over the

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United States where right wing foundations
and right wing billionaires fund

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political departments and economics departments
and and and control who gets hired

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and who allows to who is allowed teaching
what books are used. We need to take and

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we need to take over Congress basically
we need to own our politicians. And then

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Lewis Powell three months later Richard
Nixon put him on the Supreme Court and

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surprise surprise he you know he helped
write the opinions in the Buckley case and

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a year later in First National Bank versus
bloddy which was the first time in the

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that the United States
Supreme Court had said that

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a corporation had political freedom of
speech that they conflated the two the first

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men amendment the fourteenth Amendment
somehow tied together now got tied together

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really you know all in

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a bow in Citizens United in
two thousand and ten so as

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a consequence of this were back where we
were in one thousand nine hundred six when

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Teddy Roosevelt was railing about the
influence of money in politics and calling

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for the Tillman Act and for laws like that
was constant law that I just read to you

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said you know we've got to change these
things and so and again people are saying

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but you can't amend the Constitution is
too big a job it takes too much time it's

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a big hassle. But the fact of the matter
is that you know we did back then and in

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fact most recently the twenty six the
member of the Constitution one hundred

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seventy one it was proposed in March of
one thousand nine hundred one it was

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ratified in July it took three months it
took three months and eight days the big

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song that was number one of the billboards
that year was very McGuire's eve of

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destruction and in that song was

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a line you're old enough to kill but not
for voting in the twenty sixth Amendment

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lowered the voting age from twenty one
down to eighteen and it was course during

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the Vietnam War and people were upset about
the fact that they could they could be

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drafted but they couldn't vote. And
so I still think that we can pass

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a constitutional amendment in three
months and eight days are still possible

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thank you and in fact you

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know this is

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a yes and I thirteen twenty nine this
is the after you I thank you thank

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you and and here's the amendment the is
proposed This is from from move to amend or

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but there's

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a bunch of good ones out here but just
some very simple straightforward language

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this is what we need to say because keep
in mind no legislature has ever passed at

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the state or federal level in the history
of the United States no legislature has

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ever passed

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a law saying corporations are protected
by the Fourteenth Amendment or people and

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speech is part and money is protected by
the First Amendment and it's considered

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speech it's never passed any legislature
in any state or at the federal level ever

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no governor has ever signed such

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a law in no president has ever
signed or even proposed such

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a law in fact presidents have downed such
laws or such policies since literally the

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seven hundred eighty seven Grover Cleveland
State of the Union address in which he

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talked about the iron boot of corporations
being on the necks of ordinary citizens

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verbatim phrases eight hundred eighty seven
state you know dress go back look it up

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. So the amendment is very very simple
language so Section one the rights

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protected by the Constitution of the United
States of the rights of natural persons

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only artificial and additional have no
rights under this Constitution are subject

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to regulation by the people through federal
state or local law and Section two the

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judiciary shall not construe the spending
of money to influence elections to be

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speech under the First Amendment there's

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a few more words of the group of

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the so how do we make this happen we get
active and that brings it down to the very

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very very simple thing tag your it
thank you very much and and. So I'm

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00:16:28,14 --> 00:16:33,74
going to I'm going to actually let that
be my the main Well actually now my whole

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speech I want to talk

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a little bit about the crash of twenty
sixteen because that's the theoretically the

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theory the reason why I'm here but the
crash of twenty sixteen is coming about

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because of what I just shared with you.
It's coming about because our political

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process has been so badly corrupted by
the corporations and by the billionaires

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that they've they've ruined our banking
structures they've ruined our business

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structures they've ruined our strict trade
structures and our economy just doesn't

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work anymore for anybody who's not part of
the one percent and the crash who really

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you know what really set it up in

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a big way was not just Reaganomics and not
just free trade policy those guaranteed

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that America would slide in the Third World
status but what really set up the crash

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were two pieces of legislation or provided
by Phil Gramm whose wife Wendy was on

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the board of Enron and these were legislation
these were bills that Ken Lay wanted

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passed and the body Futures Modernization
Act and Graham Leach Bliley and what

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these did is they allowed companies like
Enron age to become banks because Enron

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was having problems with banks they had
eight hundred subsidiary companies they

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were playing shell games with and the banks
didn't like it they want to they want

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to be their own bank and be they want to
be able to gamble within their own bank

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with commodities specifically energy markets
and randomly lived to see the day but

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the banks are still doing it they're still
at it and they're doing it in particular

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with food and oil in ways that are really
really harming our environment and so we

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had this crash that started in two thousand
and seven with the housing collapse

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that went large in two thousand and
eight with the with the stock market

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crash. And then President Obama when he
came into office and during that brief

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little nine or eleven month window there
between the time that Ted Kennedy died the

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00:18:25,62 --> 00:18:32,37
time Scott Walker Scott Brown gotz sworn
in as his replacement. Out of the six

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years that the president has
been president he's only had

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a filibuster proof Senate for ten
or eleven months for less than

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a year and during that
period time he got into

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a get like twenty seven piece of legislation
passed to both the House and the

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Senate including the massive stimulus act
that that causes that literally prevented

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us from sliding into a Great
Depression Obamacare and

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a whole bunch of other really good I mean
some good stuff actually happened but

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these guys are so these Republicans are
so committed to making sure that this

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president and for some of
them it's just because he's

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a Democrat I mean they felt the same way
about Bill Clinton kept trying to impeach

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him but they did actually vote for legislation
during Bill Clinton's presidency.

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But for some of them it's that he's the
first black president and they just can't

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00:19:20,16 --> 00:19:24,88
deal with that and they just are so committed
to this guy going down in history as

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00:19:24,92 --> 00:19:29,16
the failed president that they're not
allowing anything to happen we had the lowest

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00:19:29,17 --> 00:19:33,25
level of legislative activity in the history
of the United States literally in the

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history of the United States and it's because
if if he likes it they will go for it

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and if he doesn't like it you know it's
obviously it's not going to happen so but

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it's so it's just it's
it's crazy and so the

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fundamental changes that needed to happen
in two thousand and eight when George

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Bush was president and the crash happened.
When the banks started falling apart we

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have

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a precedent for what to do when banks start
falling apart and in fact Ronald Reagan

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showed us in the United States when did
it in ninety seven but we saw it here in

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the United States one hundred eighty seven.
In eighty three Reagan the regulated

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savings and loans which led directly to the
crash of the savings and loans and that

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crash of the savings along is that just you
know set up for all practical purposes

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I mean you know made inevitable frankly
made inevitable the idea that there would

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be. A stock market crash
exceeding the crash of the

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saving that when when Reagan crashed the
Savings and Loans. What he did was he

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nationalized them and nationalizing the
Savings and Loans he basically said to the

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stockholders you're screwed because you're
losing your investment stockholders was

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there as when he fired all the
senior management he prosecute over

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00:20:57,49 --> 00:21:00,96
a thousand of them were and were were
prosecuted over eight hundred of them went to

277
00:21:00,97 --> 00:21:06,27
jail Charles Keating was the most famous
of that bunch something goes to jail and

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00:21:06,31 --> 00:21:07,81
eventually hired

279
00:21:07,82 --> 00:21:11,15
a guy named Bill seaman who ran the
Resolution Trust Corporation and over the

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00:21:11,16 --> 00:21:16,53
period of the next twenty five years he
sold these nationalized now federally owned

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saving salons back into the into the
public market in the private market and

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actually made

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00:21:22,49 --> 00:21:27,77
a profit for the government on the crash.
Sweden to the same thing with their banks

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this is what George Bush should have done
in two thousand and eight which is that

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00:21:31,60 --> 00:21:35,37
OK call will break of the banks will take
over the banks we can we can run banks

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00:21:35,71 --> 00:21:35,96
it's not

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00:21:35,97 --> 00:21:38,96
a secret there are good people out there
in our run banks and the do it for

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00:21:38,97 --> 00:21:40,24
a reasonable price P.J.

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00:21:40,25 --> 00:21:44,85
Damie John and Jamie Diamond hundreds of
billions of dollars but George Bush chose

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00:21:44,86 --> 00:21:51,69
not to do that instead he in the Fed chose
to hand literally tens of trillions. Of

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dollars to banks Toure's and rich people
not just in this country but all over the

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00:21:55,88 --> 00:22:00,68
world to try to keep this this crash from
happening and when Obama came into office

293
00:22:00,69 --> 00:22:04,81
there already been two tarps passed there
had been basically an amnesty for the

294
00:22:04,82 --> 00:22:10,41
bankers and there was no way that he'd
get Congress to go along with with doing

295
00:22:10,42 --> 00:22:14,81
what Reagan did in eighty six tragically
because the dye had been kept by George

296
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Bush in large part and also because they
were just committed to straw in the Obama

297
00:22:19,28 --> 00:22:23,48
presidency and so we still
have as a consequence of this

298
00:22:23,79 --> 00:22:29,62
a broken financial system and so what they've
been doing for the last six years is

299
00:22:29,63 --> 00:22:31,81
just reinflating the bubble and it's

300
00:22:31,82 --> 00:22:37,15
a bubble economy and and if you read the
Financial Times in the papers you know

301
00:22:37,16 --> 00:22:40,57
where the rich people talk to the rich
people and they're all like you know are you

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00:22:40,58 --> 00:22:44,67
in cash out and you know stock market yet
it's like you know it's like everybody's

303
00:22:44,68 --> 00:22:48,96
just they're walking on eggshells because
they know that another crash is coming I

304
00:22:48,97 --> 00:22:52,72
suggest two thousand and sixteen because
if you look back at the crash of two

305
00:22:52,73 --> 00:22:57,54
thousand and eight the Bush administration
knew in two thousand and six that that

306
00:22:57,55 --> 00:23:02,24
crash was coming they knew in two thousand
and seven the second quarter of two

307
00:23:02,25 --> 00:23:06,35
thousand and seven when housing strop starts
dropped thirty percent which they had

308
00:23:06,36 --> 00:23:12,29
done in one nine hundred twenty seven the
numbers were almost identical they knew

309
00:23:12,30 --> 00:23:15,52
that when what happened in two thousand
and seven happened in two thousand and

310
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seven what happened in twenty
nine would probably happen within

311
00:23:18,60 --> 00:23:24,42
a year and so they were trying to stop
one hundred twenty nine crash bar stock

312
00:23:24,43 --> 00:23:28,27
market crash scenarios from happening
before November of two thousand and eight

313
00:23:28,28 --> 00:23:33,56
before the election because they
knew that you know you think having

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00:23:33,57 --> 00:23:36,51
a Republican going to be election would
not be a good thing in the middle of

315
00:23:36,52 --> 00:23:40,89
a stock market crash but they couldn't
do it they miscalculated they couldn't I

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00:23:40,90 --> 00:23:44,57
mean the forces were just too great there
were there were hundreds of trillions of

317
00:23:44,58 --> 00:23:49,46
dollars of these derivatives out there and
so the market crash happened. I see the

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00:23:49,47 --> 00:23:54,04
Obama administration doing the same thing
and I don't say this out of malice or

319
00:23:54,05 --> 00:23:56,44
spite or you know I don't
think it's necessarily

320
00:23:56,45 --> 00:24:01,38
a bad thing it's politically the smart thing
is you know you want your party and in

321
00:24:01,39 --> 00:24:02,09
fact I want

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00:24:02,50 --> 00:24:05,60
a Democrat to be elected in two thousand
and sixteen I would rather the crash did

323
00:24:05,61 --> 00:24:09,16
not happen before November of two thousand
and sixteen because this is the future

324
00:24:09,17 --> 00:24:12,17
of the Supreme Court is at stake
even if it's an even if it's

325
00:24:12,18 --> 00:24:16,25
a mediocre Democrat I don't care I
don't want to Republican appointing

326
00:24:16,62 --> 00:24:21,14
a bunch of Supreme Court justices and Scully
is as late seventy's Kennedy's in his

327
00:24:21,15 --> 00:24:25,21
mid seventy's. You know Thomas
as late sixty's you got

328
00:24:25,22 --> 00:24:29,00
a bunch of these right wingers who are
reaching the age of retirement or even

329
00:24:29,01 --> 00:24:35,38
possibly not wishing to Don them but
you know people do kick off and and

330
00:24:35,39 --> 00:24:39,89
so you know they're trying to hold this
thing off until two thousand and sixteen

331
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and I'm not sure they'll be able to do
it you know it might happen next week it

332
00:24:45,57 --> 00:24:52,32
might not be for two more years
but. It's not it hasn't happened

333
00:24:53,34 --> 00:24:59,82
yet and it will because the the
market fundamentals the systems are

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00:24:59,83 --> 00:25:05,32
broken our basic core systems are broken
till we fix those systems and frankly I

335
00:25:05,33 --> 00:25:07,04
don't think we're going to
fix those systems until is

336
00:25:07,05 --> 00:25:09,91
a popular uprising I don't think is going
to be popular uprising till there's

337
00:25:09,92 --> 00:25:11,63
a crash and I hate to say that I know

338
00:25:11,64 --> 00:25:14,78
a lot of people are very hurt by that
crash but the fact of the matter is that

339
00:25:14,79 --> 00:25:18,98
a lot of people have been hurt by the the
crash of two thousand and eight and by

340
00:25:18,99 --> 00:25:23,13
the Republicans for six years trying to
make it as painful as possible for people

341
00:25:23,14 --> 00:25:26,79
cutting off their unemployment not do it
in about mortgages all these other things

342
00:25:27,21 --> 00:25:31,62
and trying to make it as painful as possible
for people so that they can so that

343
00:25:31,63 --> 00:25:36,21
they can win political advantage in the
elections you know this is terrible

344
00:25:36,22 --> 00:25:41,29
terrible politics. But this is how it's
being played out right now in part in large

345
00:25:41,30 --> 00:25:47,18
part starting with Louis Paul's memo so
we've got to do something about that we've

346
00:25:47,19 --> 00:25:52,41
got to get ready for it and when that happens
when that crash happens there will be

347
00:25:52,42 --> 00:25:56,05
that populist opportunity there
will be that populist moment I see

348
00:25:56,06 --> 00:25:59,53
a building right now in the popularity of
people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth

349
00:25:59,54 --> 00:26:04,45
Warren you see this and on the right frankly
with it with the with the Tea Party

350
00:26:04,60 --> 00:26:09,20
what you're seeing is populism you're seeing
people saying were being ignored we're

351
00:26:09,21 --> 00:26:13,53
been screwed we're not going to put up
with it anymore we may not know who is

352
00:26:13,54 --> 00:26:17,81
ignoring us or who's screwing us but we're
not going to put up with it anymore and

353
00:26:17,82 --> 00:26:21,37
so I think that when that crash happens
when that moment in time when that

354
00:26:21,38 --> 00:26:26,91
opportunity is there we need to be ready
and we need to have our friends educated

355
00:26:26,92 --> 00:26:30,17
of each one of us can we can wake up four
or five people tell as many people as

356
00:26:30,18 --> 00:26:35,55
possible so that we can do what the
paralysis in populists did the last time we

357
00:26:35,56 --> 00:26:39,52
went through this cycle where they amended
the Constitution twice they passed

358
00:26:39,53 --> 00:26:45,11
a bunch of very very substantial was they
reinvented American society to look at

359
00:26:45,12 --> 00:26:49,39
what Franklin Roosevelt did with Social
Security and W.P.A. And the C.C.C.

360
00:26:49,40 --> 00:26:51,31
And and the T.V.

361
00:26:51,32 --> 00:26:55,66
And all these other things we can do this
again we know how to do it it's not it's

362
00:26:55,67 --> 00:27:01,02
not like it's never been done it's not
like we've never figured out so get ready

363
00:27:01,53 --> 00:27:06,74
and and and there's tremendous opportunity
here there's tremendous opportunity here

364
00:27:07,08 --> 00:27:10,40
and climate change is of course roiling
the waters it's making all of this even

365
00:27:10,41 --> 00:27:13,71
worse and here's an opportunity for us
also as people are waking up about the

366
00:27:13,72 --> 00:27:17,83
dangers of climate change to transition
ourselves from a fossil fuel economy to

367
00:27:17,84 --> 00:27:22,91
a solar which could be the equivalent
for the United States of the industrial

368
00:27:22,92 --> 00:27:24,40
revolution of the eight hundred seventy S.

369
00:27:25,07 --> 00:27:27,90
I mean it could be it could be the biggest
thing that ever happened to this country

370
00:27:27,90 --> 00:27:33,99
. You know all we have to do is get the
fossils forgive the pun out of the way and

371
00:27:34,07 --> 00:27:38,53
get it got to be reality and move the
fossil fuel industry and some of these old

372
00:27:38,54 --> 00:27:43,39
Republicans in office out and that means
again back to what I said earlier I want

373
00:27:43,40 --> 00:27:48,57
to say on the radio every day getting
politically active tag your IT So that's it

374
00:27:49,29 --> 00:27:55,90
thank you

375
00:27:56,38 --> 00:28:00,88
sir. There seems to be

376
00:28:00,89 --> 00:28:05,31
a real poverty of leadership among both
parties and I'm wondering when these

377
00:28:05,55 --> 00:28:10,54
problems where are we going to find the
people that can check to really lead us out

378
00:28:10,55 --> 00:28:16,93
of these. Recognize a situation
with a leader. That's

379
00:28:16,94 --> 00:28:21,38
a great question and your question presupposes
what I call the Great Man three of

380
00:28:21,74 --> 00:28:28,65
governance it assumes that you need the
right person to lead us and but when we

381
00:28:28,66 --> 00:28:34,14
look back in history we say wow Abraham
Lincoln Thomas Jefferson George Washington

382
00:28:34,15 --> 00:28:37,87
is great man. Were they now I'm not

383
00:28:37,88 --> 00:28:43,96
a fan of the great man of theory of history
I think that what you find is that

384
00:28:43,100 --> 00:28:48,97
people step up to situations Franklin
Roosevelt was probably the most classic

385
00:28:48,98 --> 00:28:54,37
example Franklin Roosevelt was
the gut was a rich guy he was

386
00:28:54,38 --> 00:29:01,31
a privileged guy he had no great compassion
for the common man I mean he was not he

387
00:29:01,32 --> 00:29:04,32
was not a wild progressive as
governor of New York he was

388
00:29:04,33 --> 00:29:08,01
a reasonable governor but New York was
the arguably the most corrupt state the

389
00:29:08,02 --> 00:29:08,86
United States it's

390
00:29:08,87 --> 00:29:13,82
a huge political machine in New York
Governor Roosevelt did nothing about that he

391
00:29:13,83 --> 00:29:15,18
ran for president thirty two on

392
00:29:15,19 --> 00:29:21,71
a platform of free trade and you know
dropping tariffs and and and slowly

393
00:29:21,72 --> 00:29:26,05
continuing the plans that Hoover had put
into place but when he got into office he

394
00:29:26,06 --> 00:29:29,19
had an Occupy movement to deal with them
you know and they had left by the time he

395
00:29:29,20 --> 00:29:29,93
got there Hoover

396
00:29:29,94 --> 00:29:33,74
a bust of the Muppet for two years you
had people who had camped from the White

397
00:29:33,75 --> 00:29:37,43
House all the way down to the Potomac
you know the Bonus Army he had

398
00:29:37,44 --> 00:29:41,35
a nation every bank in the country failed
the week before he won it off before he

399
00:29:41,36 --> 00:29:47,23
became sworn in in March of two thousand
nine hundred thirty three and so the time

400
00:29:47,58 --> 00:29:49,20
propelled F.D.R.

401
00:29:49,91 --> 00:29:51,11
And that's why you know people call

402
00:29:51,12 --> 00:29:55,26
a program they go oh my God we're going
to get Hillary Clinton for president and

403
00:29:55,36 --> 00:30:00,06
and my response is I'm no huge fan
of Hillary I think that she's

404
00:30:00,07 --> 00:30:04,45
a very smart woman and but you know I
also issues on the board of directors

405
00:30:04,46 --> 00:30:08,50
a Wal-Mart back in the day course they were
they wanted her husband want to become

406
00:30:08,51 --> 00:30:13,41
governor of Arkansas and that was sort of
the dance he had to do but. She does know

407
00:30:13,42 --> 00:30:20,04
how to take names and kick ass
and I do believe. If that

408
00:30:20,05 --> 00:30:26,81
she or any other Democrat frankly if they
have the intestinal fortitude to take the

409
00:30:26,82 --> 00:30:31,96
opportunity and if the situation is severe
out they'll do it so I'm not I'm not so

410
00:30:31,97 --> 00:30:36,38
concerned about where the leaders are going
to come from I'm concerned about the

411
00:30:36,39 --> 00:30:42,98
timing of the circumstances yes speaking
of timing the time is now and you're

412
00:30:42,99 --> 00:30:47,88
absolutely right my name is Libby current
on the campaign manager for thirteen

413
00:30:47,89 --> 00:30:53,68
twenty nine and I. The time is very very.

414
00:30:54,79 --> 00:30:57,40
Propitious right now we are at

415
00:30:57,41 --> 00:31:02,51
a point where we have to consider hiring
paid signature gathers or for going to

416
00:31:02,52 --> 00:31:08,07
make it on to the ballot. So many of us
don't want to do that but I think the

417
00:31:08,08 --> 00:31:13,11
majority of us want to be on the ballot
because we know the state of Washington is

418
00:31:13,12 --> 00:31:19,52
at a very important time in history
because this is the largest effort of

419
00:31:19,53 --> 00:31:22,63
a citizens' initiative in
the country to date and

420
00:31:22,64 --> 00:31:27,22
a lot of states are looking at our state
I've gotten calls from Ellen away in other

421
00:31:27,23 --> 00:31:33,88
places wanting to do this so my
question for you is will you help us.

422
00:31:39,71 --> 00:31:46,64
Out I mean by that is we need to be
exposure now sure and I think the idea

423
00:31:47,17 --> 00:31:52,33
is that if we can get the country focused
on the state of Washington to send us the

424
00:31:52,34 --> 00:31:57,79
money that we have got to have to get on
the ballot we will then pay it forward to

425
00:31:57,80 --> 00:31:59,95
the next state and I think

426
00:31:59,96 --> 00:32:05,76
a movement can be created with the momentum
that we've started here and it's too

427
00:32:05,77 --> 00:32:12,01
hard if we fail now it's really hot I mean
we don't want to fail we want to succeed

428
00:32:12,25 --> 00:32:16,06
and we could really use your help to six
Well I'm not I'm not standing up here to

429
00:32:16,07 --> 00:32:22,78
give you them assure off my back. But I
you know yeah my recommendation is call

430
00:32:22,83 --> 00:32:26,70
have have somebody from your organization
call it I call them every day times but

431
00:32:26,71 --> 00:32:32,10
I'd like to get through and oh yeah well
all sensitized Daniel done you know are

432
00:32:32,15 --> 00:32:36,95
here to this we need some publicity
and remote and we can't do it.

433
00:32:41,90 --> 00:32:42,75
For anyone wanting

434
00:32:42,76 --> 00:32:47,84
a petition afterwards will be outside we've
got about three hundred extra petitions

435
00:32:47,85 --> 00:32:51,29
for this crowd to carry Well and here's the
other thing let me just encourage every

436
00:32:51,30 --> 00:32:54,92
single one of you to become
petition gatherers and please.

437
00:32:58,78 --> 00:33:03,69
Since this is going to be an economic
crisis suppose we can you talk

438
00:33:03,70 --> 00:33:06,24
a little bit of. The benefits of having

439
00:33:06,25 --> 00:33:12,86
a state bank system yeah sure
very very very straightforward

440
00:33:12,87 --> 00:33:18,49
stuff state banks or banks that are owned
by the state rather than owned by private

441
00:33:18,50 --> 00:33:23,18
corporations or stockholders or billionaires
or even communities and there are some

442
00:33:23,19 --> 00:33:29,54
community banks around the country
typically we call them. What you call

443
00:33:29,55 --> 00:33:35,62
a. Credit unions Thank you. Long day but.

444
00:33:37,26 --> 00:33:38,09
North Dakota has had

445
00:33:38,10 --> 00:33:41,70
a state owned bank again this was one of
the products that came out of the populist

446
00:33:41,71 --> 00:33:46,02
revolt of the early nineteenth century or
the early twentieth century the early one

447
00:33:46,03 --> 00:33:52,04
nine hundred and it has served North
Dakota very very well so yeah I'm

448
00:33:52,08 --> 00:33:55,36
a big fan of state banks and I would I
would encourage you if you want another

449
00:33:55,37 --> 00:33:58,30
ballot initiative to get involved with
or if you want to start lobbying your

450
00:33:58,31 --> 00:34:00,81
members of the state legislature that's

451
00:34:00,82 --> 00:34:04,57
a really high priority because I guarantee
it Washington is Washington state

452
00:34:05,14 --> 00:34:09,97
billions of dollars that are between pension
funds and just normal operating funds

453
00:34:10,25 --> 00:34:15,64
that are creating millions of dollars in
profits for Chase and Citibank and that's

454
00:34:15,65 --> 00:34:17,84
crazy keep the money here in Washington.

455
00:34:24,13 --> 00:34:29,86
So thank you for sharing so many fascinating
scientific studies on your show sorely

456
00:34:29,87 --> 00:34:35,64
needed. If you shared this one I haven't
heard you do it I had experimented done in

457
00:34:35,69 --> 00:34:40,17
one thousand nine hundred sixty five by
Rottenberg and Lindy electrodes were wired

458
00:34:40,18 --> 00:34:44,92
up to the pleasure center of the rats
brain which the rat could stimulate by

459
00:34:44,93 --> 00:34:47,42
pressing a lever or they could press

460
00:34:47,43 --> 00:34:51,04
a different lever to get food
what they learned is that

461
00:34:51,05 --> 00:34:56,42
a rat will push the pleasure lever continuously
ignoring food ignoring water intil

462
00:34:56,43 --> 00:35:00,08
the rat dies right. I got

463
00:35:00,09 --> 00:35:04,38
a shock of recognition from this when I
read that some traders say that making

464
00:35:04,39 --> 00:35:06,00
a really good transaction is

465
00:35:06,01 --> 00:35:12,45
a bigger high for them than sex which to
me sounds insane but this is them describe

466
00:35:12,46 --> 00:35:16,89
this is the back ism of addiction is what
you're describing among other things yeah

467
00:35:16,89 --> 00:35:23,77
. And so what I wonder though is
question for you. These are not stupid

468
00:35:23,78 --> 00:35:29,97
people I'm sure they're not all climate
change deniers but could it be some of them

469
00:35:30,01 --> 00:35:35,31
aren't capable of saving their own lives
knowing in accepting the scientific

470
00:35:35,32 --> 00:35:39,30
consensus on climate change I mean they
work for the same moneyed interests that

471
00:35:39,52 --> 00:35:43,92
pressure our government to take huge risks
with our economy and they want to do the

472
00:35:43,93 --> 00:35:48,25
you know that our environment and I think
this is the most primal problem we face

473
00:35:48,39 --> 00:35:52,45
in affecting any real change we obviously
need more than just regulation and we

474
00:35:52,46 --> 00:35:54,38
need to somehow contain let me take it

475
00:35:54,39 --> 00:36:00,13
a step beyond that it's not just the useful
idiots like like the guys who come on

476
00:36:00,14 --> 00:36:01,18
my radio and T.V.

477
00:36:01,19 --> 00:36:04,14
Show and debate climate change although
I haven't had one on for about

478
00:36:04,15 --> 00:36:09,28
a year I just quit doing it it's like it's
not even I'm not even pretending that

479
00:36:09,29 --> 00:36:09,46
there's

480
00:36:09,47 --> 00:36:16,30
a debate anymore it's it's just it's
it's. But the really what it is in my

481
00:36:16,31 --> 00:36:22,17
opinion the rats that you're talking about.
Are the people who are who are doing

482
00:36:22,18 --> 00:36:27,92
the modern day Scrooge McDuck they are they
they are they have obsessive compulsive

483
00:36:27,93 --> 00:36:29,43
disorder they have

484
00:36:29,44 --> 00:36:35,68
a hoarding disorder if they were middle
class people you would see them on T.V.

485
00:36:35,69 --> 00:36:35,82
With

486
00:36:35,83 --> 00:36:39,13
a living room full of newspapers all the
way up to the ceiling the at the navigate

487
00:36:39,14 --> 00:36:39,51
through in

488
00:36:39,52 --> 00:36:44,47
a kitchen full of old tin cans but instead
they have forty billion dollars in the

489
00:36:44,48 --> 00:36:48,74
bank and they're trying to get to eighty
billion and you know they don't care what

490
00:36:48,75 --> 00:36:54,12
happens to the world they don't care what
happens to anybody else you you you get

491
00:36:54,16 --> 00:36:59,05
this mentality I mean the ugly face of
this mentality was on display with Mr

492
00:36:59,06 --> 00:37:04,93
Sterling's comments you know the other day
you know I think we have as much as we

493
00:37:04,94 --> 00:37:05,02
have

494
00:37:05,03 --> 00:37:11,18
a climate change denial problem what's
feeding it even larger is to two thousand.

495
00:37:12,57 --> 00:37:17,66
Billion two thousand trillion tons of
carbon underground which is on the books of

496
00:37:17,67 --> 00:37:22,93
seven big fossil companies and that are
controlled by multi millionaires and

497
00:37:22,94 --> 00:37:27,16
billionaires who don't want to
lose that money and we have

498
00:37:27,17 --> 00:37:32,65
a billionaire problem and we've got to do
something about that I thought of that

499
00:37:32,90 --> 00:37:39,83
of the of the. After learning about

500
00:37:39,84 --> 00:37:45,94
the sterling silver spectacle yet
it seemed that it got immediate

501
00:37:45,95 --> 00:37:52,66
results as tawdry as the process of
capturing the information that seemed to

502
00:37:52,67 --> 00:37:56,05
work and he's out of our
lives in term of the N.B.A.

503
00:37:56,63 --> 00:38:03,59
Yes the Clippers the owner of the Clippers
I'm sorry why not when the minimum

504
00:38:03,60 --> 00:38:07,53
wage just recently failed in
the Senate couldn't muster

505
00:38:07,54 --> 00:38:14,17
a sixty percent vote.
Why not publicize these

506
00:38:14,18 --> 00:38:20,90
people who voted against
this relatively harmless new

507
00:38:20,91 --> 00:38:23,59
policy just upgrading people giving them

508
00:38:23,60 --> 00:38:29,59
a chance to live why not publicized their
private lives where do they vacation what

509
00:38:29,60 --> 00:38:36,36
do where do they send their children to
school. That type of thing well. You know I

510
00:38:36,37 --> 00:38:40,25
don't think that ad hominum you know going
after the person attacks are going to be

511
00:38:40,26 --> 00:38:46,26
successful first of all but secondly
what Sterling did and did was.

512
00:38:48,96 --> 00:38:52,62
It is it is I mean I'm still chewing on
this I'm still trying to figure this out

513
00:38:52,63 --> 00:38:56,60
and I'm sure we'll be talking about it
on the radio this coming week the Rude

514
00:38:56,62 --> 00:38:58,09
Pundit had

515
00:38:58,10 --> 00:39:05,06
a really thought provoking column
wherever he publishes his blog I saw it

516
00:39:05,07 --> 00:39:11,81
on Democratic Underground yesterday
and he said you know this Sterling

517
00:39:11,82 --> 00:39:18,36
guy Donald Sterling he's been picking on
poor black people for thirty five years I

518
00:39:18,37 --> 00:39:21,95
mean he's been thrown them out of their
houses he's been calling them names his

519
00:39:21,96 --> 00:39:28,69
wife is called them names to their faces.
Nobody ever said and. It's just you know

520
00:39:29,00 --> 00:39:31,24
but they're poor black
people I mean there was

521
00:39:31,25 --> 00:39:35,11
a lawsuit and he paid some people off
to go away but basically his poor black

522
00:39:35,12 --> 00:39:41,45
people then he said something about rich
black people. And see this illustrates the

523
00:39:41,46 --> 00:39:45,49
confluence of race and class in our
society I keep saying it's not just

524
00:39:45,50 --> 00:39:46,23
a race issue it's

525
00:39:46,24 --> 00:39:53,23
a class issue as well and and you
know Sterling took on rich black guys

526
00:39:53,60 --> 00:39:57,67
and you can at that point you can take the
black out you know he took out he had

527
00:39:57,68 --> 00:39:58,99
been trash and he made

528
00:39:59,26 --> 00:40:04,17
a billion dollars trashing poor people he
trashes some rich people they kicked his

529
00:40:04,18 --> 00:40:10,85
ass and and so you know. I'm
not sure what lesson to

530
00:40:10,86 --> 00:40:14,45
draw out of that because because it's really
kind of disheartening because you know

531
00:40:14,60 --> 00:40:20,99
basically what that you know that reinforces.
Guillen's research that the rich get

532
00:40:21,00 --> 00:40:22,17
what they want the port-O.

533
00:40:22,22 --> 00:40:27,02
So you know like I said I'm still I'm still
chewing that one of my brain and I'll

534
00:40:27,03 --> 00:40:31,22
have further thoughts about it next week
but I put it out for your consideration I

535
00:40:31,23 --> 00:40:35,40
don't know what the solution to this is
other than getting money out of politics

536
00:40:35,80 --> 00:40:39,06
and so that the average people can get
involved again which takes us back to our

537
00:40:39,07 --> 00:40:42,57
constitutional amendment which takes us
back to all of you becoming you know

538
00:40:42,92 --> 00:40:49,89
signature gatherers for this ballot
initiative and and you know Step one

539
00:40:49,93 --> 00:40:55,25
get money out of government yes or. TIME
Are you proposing that we somehow solicit

540
00:40:55,26 --> 00:40:59,57
millionaires for causes that no billionaire
now although you know Ralph Nader wrote

541
00:40:59,58 --> 00:41:05,72
a book two years ago called Only the
billionaires will save us. And and I had Ralph

542
00:41:05,73 --> 00:41:11,59
on my show and I said Ralph are you have
you lost it. It's like really and he was

543
00:41:11,60 --> 00:41:15,14
like No no seriously you know it's like
this the billionaires who are oppressing us

544
00:41:15,15 --> 00:41:15,56
and there are

545
00:41:15,57 --> 00:41:20,03
a few enlightened billionaires out there
and we need to and there are I mean I've

546
00:41:20,04 --> 00:41:24,63
met a couple of them and and.
In fact I was in fact I was at

547
00:41:24,64 --> 00:41:27,65
a retreat in Vermont with one of
about six months ago which was

548
00:41:27,69 --> 00:41:30,98
a very interesting thing you know so the
Silicon Valley guy who's now worth three

549
00:41:30,99 --> 00:41:31,07
and

550
00:41:31,08 --> 00:41:36,16
a half billion dollars is funding all kinds
of really good stuff. And and he's not

551
00:41:36,17 --> 00:41:41,04
crazy and he's not obsessive and he's not
acquisitive he just happened to be one of

552
00:41:41,05 --> 00:41:46,29
the early guys who invented something the
became something you know. So he's not

553
00:41:46,30 --> 00:41:53,20
a typical billionaire but anyhow Ralph I
think I can't speak for Ralph but his

554
00:41:53,21 --> 00:42:00,05
newest book is not asking the billionaires
to help us anymore so. It's. This

555
00:42:00,06 --> 00:42:06,28
kind of leads into my question which
is. We know we have this problem with

556
00:42:06,29 --> 00:42:12,89
organization and trying to get these
issues out there. And you know

557
00:42:12,90 --> 00:42:17,22
a lot about the Constitution we've talked
and we've had direct democracy now we've

558
00:42:17,23 --> 00:42:21,18
got this two party system that's
institutionalized and we don't have control over

559
00:42:21,19 --> 00:42:23,01
it and then you're talking about

560
00:42:23,02 --> 00:42:26,25
a progressive approach and I'm just wondering
what is that structure that you seek

561
00:42:26,26 --> 00:42:31,65
is that some you can tell us about I mean
how has what's it's about what. You.

562
00:42:34,29 --> 00:42:37,97
A progressive solution look I think it's

563
00:42:37,98 --> 00:42:41,50
a simple matter of progress is taking over
the political process the progressive

564
00:42:41,51 --> 00:42:47,91
revolution that happened in
from. For argue Blee until

565
00:42:48,49 --> 00:42:53,90
you know the one nine hundred forty. That
was done by both Democrats or Republicans

566
00:42:53,94 --> 00:42:57,92
you know Taft busted who was followed
Roosevelt he was a Republican to

567
00:42:57,93 --> 00:43:02,77
a bust up Standard Oil Roosevelt started
Taft finished it just like Nixon start

568
00:43:02,78 --> 00:43:04,20
a bust bust up a T.N.T.

569
00:43:04,21 --> 00:43:10,44
Carter finished it I you know the
reality is that we don't have

570
00:43:10,45 --> 00:43:14,16
a proportional representation system in
the United States if the Green Party gets

571
00:43:14,17 --> 00:43:17,34
three percent of votes sorry they're not
going to have three percent of the seats

572
00:43:17,35 --> 00:43:23,31
in Congress. Were changing the constitution
to fix that is something that I think

573
00:43:23,32 --> 00:43:24,03
is way too big

574
00:43:24,04 --> 00:43:28,92
a lift that requires much more understanding
on the person part of the average

575
00:43:28,93 --> 00:43:33,53
person than just money is screwing up
government which this constitutional moment

576
00:43:33,73 --> 00:43:36,87
that's all you have to say to people you
know money you know let's get money out of

577
00:43:36,88 --> 00:43:40,61
government cool or do I sign
you know. Say to people it's

578
00:43:40,62 --> 00:43:45,75
a proportional representation. So so I
think that you know we're stuck with this

579
00:43:45,76 --> 00:43:52,56
two party system so I go back to two thousand
and ten the Concord Coalition I think

580
00:43:52,57 --> 00:43:55,96
it is maybe it's project whatever it
is you can find it online they've got

581
00:43:55,97 --> 00:43:58,64
a bunch of You Tube So
they had these D.V.R.

582
00:43:58,65 --> 00:44:01,40
Is that they were passing out they were
doing the house parties all over the

583
00:44:01,41 --> 00:44:07,19
country and they were teaching Republican
activists Tea Party activists how to show

584
00:44:07,20 --> 00:44:12,52
up at the Republican Party and take it over
and the fact of the matter is and I've

585
00:44:12,56 --> 00:44:13,15
I've been at

586
00:44:13,16 --> 00:44:17,20
a few of these and I've had probably one
hundred people call the program in the in

587
00:44:17,21 --> 00:44:20,93
the years since I wrote that book screwed
back in two thousand and eight when I

588
00:44:20,94 --> 00:44:25,46
first told the story of three people who
did this. I've had you know at least

589
00:44:25,47 --> 00:44:30,65
a hundred people call and say yeah I showed
up at the local Democratic Party and

590
00:44:30,66 --> 00:44:35,88
there was like six guys there and they were
all in their seventy's and and you know

591
00:44:35,89 --> 00:44:37,56
it's and it's basically

592
00:44:37,57 --> 00:44:42,13
a social club and so I came back you know
the next month when the elections were

593
00:44:42,14 --> 00:44:47,49
happening I brought thirty five friends
and now we run the local Democratic Party

594
00:44:47,89 --> 00:44:51,33
and this is happening this is this is
exactly how the Tea Party took over the

595
00:44:51,34 --> 00:44:55,87
Republican Party. And this is how
I mean the Democratic Party it's

596
00:44:55,88 --> 00:44:59,25
a billion dollar machine if
you want to take over N.B.C.

597
00:44:59,29 --> 00:45:02,44
Good luck you know how much you can you
imagine how much money would have to raise

598
00:45:02,45 --> 00:45:05,52
to take over a network but you can
take over a political party without

599
00:45:05,53 --> 00:45:11,92
a penny you just hit the damn show up I
mean it's so anyway yes or. Turns out you

600
00:45:11,93 --> 00:45:18,35
can actually teach the rats to become
addicted to punishment teach and they'll talk

601
00:45:18,36 --> 00:45:24,29
themselves or. They'll become addicted to
punishment and they'll shock themselves

602
00:45:24,30 --> 00:45:29,20
to death it's really sad to watch
but my question for you is if.

603
00:45:31,80 --> 00:45:37,83
If we lose the Internet with the end of
net neutrality if we can reestablish Can

604
00:45:37,84 --> 00:45:41,19
you think of another means by which
we can keep in touch and build

605
00:45:41,20 --> 00:45:44,81
a movement. Well I don't think the Internet
is going to go away it's just going to

606
00:45:44,82 --> 00:45:48,94
get more expensive I mean just like you
know our car phone service didn't go away I

607
00:45:48,95 --> 00:45:54,94
mean the service I was in Germany two
weekends ago one of my THAT best friends had

608
00:45:54,95 --> 00:46:01,24
a massive heart attack and and I went over
to visit him and. You know he's got you

609
00:46:01,25 --> 00:46:04,30
know he's got this is got a cell
phone he's got a smartphone we did

610
00:46:04,31 --> 00:46:08,73
a digital data on it you know just like
my i Phone my i Phone costs one hundred

611
00:46:09,04 --> 00:46:10,68
plus month dollars

612
00:46:10,69 --> 00:46:15,35
a month his is like I think twenty eight
or thirty one or something like that

613
00:46:15,39 --> 00:46:20,13
a month why because he can buy it from
thirty or forty different providers you know

614
00:46:20,14 --> 00:46:23,51
they've got real competition though they
actually enforce their antitrust acts

615
00:46:23,52 --> 00:46:29,51
there so. I don't think that the end of net
neutrality is going to be the death of

616
00:46:29,52 --> 00:46:33,60
the internet I don't think it's going to
be you know doom and gloom scenario it's

617
00:46:33,61 --> 00:46:33,96
going to be

618
00:46:33,97 --> 00:46:41,25
a pain in the ass scenario
you know. Yeah I I

619
00:46:41,26 --> 00:46:46,60
only heard half of that work and say Larry
and survey Oh Larry insurgent Yeah yeah

620
00:46:46,64 --> 00:46:51,18
I don't know I mean I'm fairly incensed
about Tom Wheeler you know sudden himself

621
00:46:51,19 --> 00:46:53,99
up for his two million dollar
job when he leaves the F.C.C.

622
00:46:53,99 --> 00:46:58,84
. And a million bucks a year
from you know to it's not

623
00:46:58,85 --> 00:47:00,60
a good thing I mean you know it's not

624
00:47:00,61 --> 00:47:05,06
a good thing but I but and it's something
that's worth being an activist about but

625
00:47:05,07 --> 00:47:08,10
I think that the number one thing we have
to do not see if we got money out of

626
00:47:08,11 --> 00:47:11,62
politics things like Tom Wheeler wouldn't
be happening that are doing that so which

627
00:47:11,63 --> 00:47:18,41
brings us back to the twenty at the
moment yes or. What can I tell my poorly

628
00:47:18,42 --> 00:47:25,35
misguided Republican twin brother. Will
be the little legislative agenda post

629
00:47:25,36 --> 00:47:32,24
crash. You know to get rid of this
horrible income inequality that we have in

630
00:47:32,25 --> 00:47:37,57
America today right one you know one of
the things that makes actually sense to

631
00:47:37,58 --> 00:47:43,71
Republicans who are capable of doing math.
Is that if you look at the history of

632
00:47:43,72 --> 00:47:49,64
the United States or any other country
pick one what you find modern economy and

633
00:47:49,65 --> 00:47:56,46
industrialized economies where you find
is that when the top income tax on

634
00:47:56,50 --> 00:47:58,63
income over roughly three million dollars

635
00:47:58,64 --> 00:48:04,68
a year in whatever the days dollars
are when it's over fifty percent

636
00:48:05,66 --> 00:48:10,98
that you have long periods of stability
in your economy and the reason why is

637
00:48:10,99 --> 00:48:13,14
because people take their
three million dollars

638
00:48:13,15 --> 00:48:16,69
a year and then stop and at that point
they put they put the money back in the

639
00:48:16,70 --> 00:48:22,51
company they reinvest it they pay their
employees well they they provide and they

640
00:48:22,70 --> 00:48:27,52
do bar and they build you know they you
know it's like hey why give money to the

641
00:48:27,53 --> 00:48:32,94
government and and that's why from the one
nine hundred thirty until one thousand

642
00:48:32,95 --> 00:48:35,48
nine hundred eighty
five the average C.E.O.

643
00:48:35,49 --> 00:48:40,53
In the United States took thirty times
what the average worker tax. But when you

644
00:48:40,57 --> 00:48:46,01
when the top income tax drops below fifty
percent what happens is what happened

645
00:48:46,02 --> 00:48:48,68
when Harding dropped from
ninety one percent on

646
00:48:48,69 --> 00:48:52,39
a twenty five percent in one nine hundred
twenty and then Roosevelt to go back up

647
00:48:52,40 --> 00:48:57,03
to ninety percent thirty four thirty four
I think it was but you know what you have

648
00:48:57,04 --> 00:48:58,03
the Roaring Twenties you have

649
00:48:58,04 --> 00:49:01,56
a bubble bubble economy and what happened
when Reagan dropped it down to twenty

650
00:49:01,57 --> 00:49:04,75
eight percent in one thousand nine hundred
seventy and you have another bubble

651
00:49:04,76 --> 00:49:05,93
economy and we're still in

652
00:49:05,94 --> 00:49:11,97
a bubble economy so number one first thing
is to get the income tax above the top

653
00:49:11,98 --> 00:49:17,32
marginal rate as that has no effect
whatsoever on the average person none but you

654
00:49:17,33 --> 00:49:21,45
get that top marginal rate above three
million dollars And at that point you don't

655
00:49:21,46 --> 00:49:24,76
have all this hot money flowing through
the system where people are just you know

656
00:49:25,20 --> 00:49:28,69
they didn't they didn't have to work that
hard to get it it wasn't it's not that

657
00:49:28,70 --> 00:49:33,54
dear to them they're not so worried about
it and so they're willing to gamble and

658
00:49:33,55 --> 00:49:37,48
things like derivatives and stuff so
that's that's a starting point that's just

659
00:49:37,49 --> 00:49:40,95
a really good starting point and John that
I'd say look at the entire new deal it's

660
00:49:40,96 --> 00:49:47,47
all worth replicating Yeah. And the idea
that money is free speech is the Supreme

661
00:49:47,48 --> 00:49:54,00
Court has said apparently. I heard a
recent show of Bill Maher who said wait

662
00:49:54,01 --> 00:49:59,83
a minute money isn't free speech money is
the microphone and the Constitution never

663
00:49:59,84 --> 00:50:00,84
guaranteed you

664
00:50:00,85 --> 00:50:07,22
a giant microphone and I really like that
so my question to you is what do you

665
00:50:07,23 --> 00:50:12,14
think of that as to its substance and as a
radio person what do you think of it as

666
00:50:12,15 --> 00:50:16,73
a good quip to kind of get out there and
get people thinking about yeah it's

667
00:50:16,74 --> 00:50:20,80
a good one Bill Maher is the master
of one liners and that's a that's

668
00:50:20,81 --> 00:50:26,66
a particularly good one what I what I what
I like is the let me find it again here

669
00:50:26,95 --> 00:50:33,82
was the in the Buckley case. That
that money and politics could be

670
00:50:33,83 --> 00:50:38,73
regulated because if you were regulating
conduct that money was conduct you were

671
00:50:38,74 --> 00:50:43,14
buying things you were doing things with
money whereas which is different from

672
00:50:43,15 --> 00:50:45,06
speech and we can we have

673
00:50:45,07 --> 00:50:48,95
a long history of regulating conduct
in the United States and we have

674
00:50:48,96 --> 00:50:53,96
a long history of respecting the right of
freedom of speech so yeah microphone is

675
00:50:53,97 --> 00:50:59,47
another form of conduct Yeah I'm with
you. I want to know in case I missed it

676
00:51:00,65 --> 00:51:06,38
what informs you in your life and in
your studies and in your intelligence to

677
00:51:06,39 --> 00:51:13,28
believe that we can change capitalism by
using capitalism by the methods of now

678
00:51:13,53 --> 00:51:13,68
that's

679
00:51:13,69 --> 00:51:18,95
a very good question I think I think and
thank you for that and thank you for being

680
00:51:18,96 --> 00:51:24,29
one of the socialists in our chat room
because Thank you me too Back atcha because

681
00:51:24,30 --> 00:51:28,24
I'm with you capitalism and I've
said this many many times I wrote

682
00:51:28,25 --> 00:51:30,62
a book called screwed about
it and it's wonderful

683
00:51:30,63 --> 00:51:34,65
a tallis Thomas Piketty his book A capital
in twenty first century is getting such

684
00:51:34,66 --> 00:51:40,98
widespread claim even the seven hundred
page home capitalism does not produce

685
00:51:40,99 --> 00:51:45,87
a middle class and it does not necessarily
produce prosperity capitalism produces

686
00:51:46,15 --> 00:51:52,17
Victorian era Europe you know the the world
that Charles Dickens wrote about was

687
00:51:52,18 --> 00:51:57,39
the result of relatively unregulated
capitalism and it's important to remember that

688
00:51:57,40 --> 00:52:03,73
Scrooge in A Christmas Carol Scrooge was
the middle class. Middle class was the

689
00:52:03,74 --> 00:52:07,48
small shop owners right Scrooge
under two men business was

690
00:52:07,49 --> 00:52:09,90
a small businessman right he was not

691
00:52:09,91 --> 00:52:12,96
a rich guy I mean he was the
middle class so you have

692
00:52:12,97 --> 00:52:17,68
a small middle class you have a small
very wealthy class and then you have

693
00:52:17,69 --> 00:52:21,32
a huge class of the working poor and that's
the direction we've been moving in ever

694
00:52:21,33 --> 00:52:26,73
since Reaganomics came in you have to
have heavily regulated capitalism and yet

695
00:52:26,74 --> 00:52:27,04
they have

696
00:52:27,08 --> 00:52:32,73
a strong social component within within the
body politic of the body economic which

697
00:52:32,74 --> 00:52:34,92
is what we had with F.D.R.

698
00:52:34,96 --> 00:52:40,62
Or nomics the and what we lost with Reaganomics
and that's why United States is has

699
00:52:40,71 --> 00:52:47,34
become more like Victorian England and
you know we need to. I'm not inherently

700
00:52:47,38 --> 00:52:53,39
explicitly opposed to capitalism per
se I am totally opposed to unregulated

701
00:52:53,40 --> 00:52:57,94
capitalism or capitalism as the
only economic system within

702
00:52:57,95 --> 00:52:59,86
a political body I think that we need

703
00:52:59,87 --> 00:53:05,51
a lot more work or co-ops which are communalism
arguably communism we need we need

704
00:53:06,15 --> 00:53:09,27
certainly socialism we need
government protecting the commons in

705
00:53:09,28 --> 00:53:13,22
a big way we need more democratic social
you look at the countries in northern

706
00:53:13,23 --> 00:53:19,84
Europe they've got to figure
it out so I. Think that. A

707
00:53:19,85 --> 00:53:26,35
nation is not considered wealthy
by. How much the wealthiest few

708
00:53:26,39 --> 00:53:30,52
have it's wealthy when
the least among you has

709
00:53:30,53 --> 00:53:35,39
a certain amount of wealth and
I think it's about G.D.P.

710
00:53:35,46 --> 00:53:41,61
They're so what would you consider
a good indicator or index as to

711
00:53:41,62 --> 00:53:43,98
a wealth the wealth of

712
00:53:43,99 --> 00:53:50,04
a company country well
I don't it's it's OK.

713
00:53:51,29 --> 00:53:57,09
Her point was that you know one of the best
measurements of the quality of life in

714
00:53:57,10 --> 00:53:58,68
a country and the wealth of

715
00:53:58,69 --> 00:54:05,11
a country really is not how many Bill
Gates you have but hi how is the

716
00:54:05,12 --> 00:54:11,93
life of the people at the bottom of
the economic scale scale and I never

717
00:54:11,94 --> 00:54:13,66
regarded there are a lot
of countries that do

718
00:54:13,67 --> 00:54:19,78
a lot better than us. The very poor in
Holland are better off than the working

719
00:54:20,05 --> 00:54:24,65
bottom end of the working middle class
in the United States for example and

720
00:54:24,81 --> 00:54:29,33
increasingly this is the case with country
after country after country we are no

721
00:54:29,34 --> 00:54:35,07
longer. Number one certainly with regard
to our middle class in terms of some way

722
00:54:35,08 --> 00:54:37,10
to calibrate it or understand it there are

723
00:54:37,11 --> 00:54:43,81
a lot of suggestions that have been made.
But I think that the genie co-efficient

724
00:54:43,82 --> 00:54:46,03
is called the G.I. And
I coefficient and it's

725
00:54:46,04 --> 00:54:50,93
a ratio of. Extreme wealth to
extreme poverty in a country it's

726
00:54:50,94 --> 00:54:54,02
a measure of any quality is really

727
00:54:54,03 --> 00:54:59,73
a good one to use and our Gini coefficient
has almost doubled since Reagan's

728
00:54:59,74 --> 00:55:04,38
presidency which is a really
bad thing and there's

729
00:55:04,39 --> 00:55:08,90
a really good book about this two actually
good books about it by Richard Wilkinson

730
00:55:08,94 --> 00:55:14,23
and Kay Pickett two British economists.
They're both published in the U.K.

731
00:55:14,24 --> 00:55:17,33
But they're available in the United States
the first is called Why any quality

732
00:55:17,34 --> 00:55:21,05
matters that came out about eight years
ago and the second is called The Spirit

733
00:55:21,06 --> 00:55:23,51
Level which came out about
three years ago and they have

734
00:55:23,52 --> 00:55:28,97
a website called Q equal
inequality Trust dot org dot U.K.

735
00:55:29,29 --> 00:55:36,27
And you can just easily Google inequality
Wilkerson inequality pick at inequality

736
00:55:36,28 --> 00:55:41,86
spirit level and you can find all the
stuff that's but but we need you know the

737
00:55:41,90 --> 00:55:44,70
really good news in my mind is that
we're at and we're starting to have

738
00:55:44,71 --> 00:55:50,69
a conversation in on the pages of The New
York Times today whereas the last time we

739
00:55:50,70 --> 00:55:54,01
really seriously had that conversation the
United States was during the one nine

740
00:55:54,02 --> 00:55:54,61
hundred sixty S.

741
00:55:54,62 --> 00:55:59,94
During the Great Society and it got subsumed
by the Vietnam War tragically Lyndon

742
00:55:59,95 --> 00:56:03,17
Johnson had he not had the Vietnam War I
think would have been seen as one of our

743
00:56:03,18 --> 00:56:07,87
greatest presidents and and even though
I was out even though I got arrested

744
00:56:07,88 --> 00:56:10,66
protesting him I mean I was on
the street you know hey L.B.J.

745
00:56:10,67 --> 00:56:14,75
How many kids did you kill that day but
you look back on what he did it was

746
00:56:14,76 --> 00:56:20,78
extraordinary and and you know we
need that again thank you yes there's

747
00:56:20,79 --> 00:56:25,98
a lot of subject but we just surpassed last
year's record number of earthquakes in

748
00:56:25,99 --> 00:56:31,34
Oklahoma in the first four months or now
and I haven't see we watch you adamantly

749
00:56:31,84 --> 00:56:35,78
and I haven't seen you do much on that and
I think it's extremely important rather

750
00:56:36,37 --> 00:56:40,01
hard it's fracking it's not actually it's
not even fracking it's the injection of

751
00:56:40,02 --> 00:56:46,88
the waste break you know in my opinion
work for an oil company which with that. I

752
00:56:46,89 --> 00:56:47,76
think you know I think that's

753
00:56:47,77 --> 00:56:50,94
a big. Are issues in the pipeline pipeline
going to go right through Oklahoma where

754
00:56:50,95 --> 00:56:57,93
those earthquakes occur. I think I think
this needs more cover. But you know Cobra

755
00:56:57,94 --> 00:57:01,17
two thousand and eight
there was a drunk guy

756
00:57:01,22 --> 00:57:07,95
a drunk hunter up in Alaska and he
fired his pretty high powered rifle

757
00:57:07,96 --> 00:57:10,32
fired a pretty high powered
rifle at what he thought was

758
00:57:10,33 --> 00:57:15,78
a moose and it was the pipeline. And and

759
00:57:16,21 --> 00:57:19,63
a million spilled gallons later

760
00:57:19,69 --> 00:57:25,18
a bush pile of flying over noticed this
giant half mile wide pool of black stuff on

761
00:57:25,19 --> 00:57:32,11
the ground I mean pipelines are craziness
you know it's just they're crazy and I

762
00:57:32,12 --> 00:57:36,38
agree with you know running them across
North quake areas crazy running them across

763
00:57:36,39 --> 00:57:41,23
the Ogallala aquifer is really crazy running
them across eight navigable navigable

764
00:57:41,29 --> 00:57:47,09
waterways is crazy and
running them from from

765
00:57:47,56 --> 00:57:53,59
a god awful form of carbon in Canada to
get them to the Gulf Coast of the United

766
00:57:53,60 --> 00:57:56,62
States with the explicit and stated
purpose they don't even make

767
00:57:56,63 --> 00:58:02,45
a secret about it this is on Trans Canada
as Website their goal is not to sell that

768
00:58:02,46 --> 00:58:03,14
into the U.S.

769
00:58:03,15 --> 00:58:08,57
Market their goal is to refine it in Texas
leave the poisons here in the United

770
00:58:08,58 --> 00:58:13,72
States make cancer alley going down Texas
and Louisiana five times larger and sell

771
00:58:13,73 --> 00:58:19,35
that diesel fuel and gasoline into the
European the Central and South American

772
00:58:19,36 --> 00:58:24,11
markets and the Chinese markets they are
explicit about it in fact Trans Canada on

773
00:58:24,12 --> 00:58:27,77
their website says they expect that when
the pipeline is completed the cost of

774
00:58:27,78 --> 00:58:30,54
gasoline the United States will
go up by about fifteen cents

775
00:58:30,55 --> 00:58:34,20
a gallon because right now they're refining
their gas in the Midwest because the

776
00:58:34,21 --> 00:58:37,44
pipeline does stop in the Midwest
and it is being sold in the U.S.

777
00:58:37,45 --> 00:58:41,78
Market and the other thing to keep in
mind is that the number one export of the

778
00:58:41,79 --> 00:58:45,33
United States we used to export televisions
and computers and refrigerators and

779
00:58:45,48 --> 00:58:49,42
clothes and blue jeans and all kinds of
cool stuff the number one export of the

780
00:58:49,43 --> 00:58:54,84
United States last year was refined petroleum
products. Number one export gasoline

781
00:58:54,85 --> 00:59:01,04
and diesel fuel that's what we're selling
and and we keep the poisons so you know

782
00:59:01,05 --> 00:59:06,29
they get the money we get the poison
China gets the gasoline this is not

783
00:59:06,30 --> 00:59:12,90
a good deal to say and if I may add the
largest individual private owner American

784
00:59:12,91 --> 00:59:19,18
private owner of tar sands oil in Canada
who stands to make billions of this

785
00:59:19,19 --> 00:59:23,55
pipeline is completed and refined
in in Texas are the Koch brothers.

786
00:59:26,18 --> 00:59:31,50
Shocking. Two part question part one.

787
00:59:33,67 --> 00:59:36,52
It appears to me that until there's

788
00:59:36,53 --> 00:59:41,10
a twenty eighth amendment that's passed
nationally nothing else really is going to

789
00:59:41,11 --> 00:59:47,36
do much good I don't know if that's your
perception but as that's everything I

790
00:59:47,37 --> 00:59:51,11
perceive that is the most highly leveraged
activity that we can do if there's

791
00:59:51,12 --> 00:59:55,61
anything more than that I would love your
input to do those things but I've been

792
00:59:55,62 --> 00:59:59,59
putting all of my resources towards that.
I absolutely agree with you there are

793
00:59:59,60 --> 01:00:03,44
a lot of people who are offering some really
nice suggestions you know Larry Lessig

794
01:00:03,45 --> 01:00:07,46
has this thing of let's do what New York
State did in New York state maybe it's New

795
01:00:07,47 --> 01:00:10,00
York City if you make a
contribution of under

796
01:00:10,01 --> 01:00:13,55
a certain amount of it's one hundred dollars
they'll match it six times you know to

797
01:00:13,56 --> 01:00:18,13
a candidate so that small contributions
have you know the you know

798
01:00:18,14 --> 01:00:22,77
a larger effect I mean there's all kinds
of cool stuff that you can do but in my

799
01:00:22,78 --> 01:00:26,25
opinion it's all nibbling around the edges
you're right the most heavily leveraged

800
01:00:26,26 --> 01:00:31,41
activity you can do is roll back these
two judge created Doc doctrines that

801
01:00:31,42 --> 01:00:35,43
corporations are protected by the fourteenth
Amendment in our persons and the and

802
01:00:35,44 --> 01:00:39,70
that money is protected by the first moment
and his speech I'm thirty five years

803
01:00:39,71 --> 01:00:42,36
old I look around I come to
things like this and I see

804
01:00:42,37 --> 01:00:47,63
a lot of people that are twice my age and
I get concerned as time goes on that

805
01:00:47,64 --> 01:00:52,34
there's that this route will be they'll be
fewer and fewer people as the decades go

806
01:00:52,35 --> 01:00:58,80
by I'm wondering if you can address that
as well I agree with you and it concerns

807
01:00:58,81 --> 01:01:04,23
me tremendously it's interesting because
the outreach to people of your age has

808
01:01:04,24 --> 01:01:08,64
been so effective on the right when I debate
right wingers and it's one of my radio

809
01:01:08,65 --> 01:01:12,23
stations and one of their radio stations
the average age of people in my audience

810
01:01:12,24 --> 01:01:15,80
is fifty's sixty's seventy's the average
age of people in their audiences is

811
01:01:15,84 --> 01:01:19,91
twenty's thirty's forty's and and
it's because they've grown up on

812
01:01:19,92 --> 01:01:23,86
a diet of Rush Limbaugh they've grown
up they don't remember the world before

813
01:01:23,87 --> 01:01:26,31
Ronald Reagan and and there's

814
01:01:26,32 --> 01:01:30,54
a lot of wisdom in this audience that's
going to go when and when you know decades

815
01:01:30,55 --> 01:01:31,16
from now and that's

816
01:01:31,17 --> 01:01:35,95
a real concern we have to be reaching out
to young people the good news is that

817
01:01:35,96 --> 01:01:40,55
increasingly and and I'm guessing probably
not so much tonight simply because of

818
01:01:40,56 --> 01:01:43,98
the weather and because what's going on
in because it's May Day increasingly gigs

819
01:01:43,99 --> 01:01:48,32
like this I'm seeing people in their
twenty's show up I've seen teenagers show up

820
01:01:48,33 --> 01:01:48,90
so we've got

821
01:01:48,91 --> 01:01:54,43
a new generation coming up that are that
are progressive and you know the rest of

822
01:01:54,44 --> 01:01:58,35
us I'm sixty three the rest of us who are
older need to be reaching out. As wise

823
01:01:58,36 --> 01:02:02,34
elders in saying we will be here for you
we you know you learn from our experience

824
01:02:02,60 --> 01:02:07,74
but there was this very activist generation
you know who was confronted by the

825
01:02:07,75 --> 01:02:08,40
equivalent of

826
01:02:08,41 --> 01:02:13,24
a crash crisis which was called the Vietnam
War and then we had others long period

827
01:02:13,25 --> 01:02:18,00
of what seemed like everything's cool let's
go make some money and so you've got

828
01:02:18,01 --> 01:02:21,86
people your age more or less plus or minus
ten years who just spent their lives

829
01:02:22,01 --> 01:02:22,44
trying to make

830
01:02:22,45 --> 01:02:26,58
a living and then now you've got now
you've got another generation is facing

831
01:02:26,59 --> 01:02:27,07
a crisis

832
01:02:27,08 --> 01:02:31,34
a trillion dollar student debt crisis
people under basically under thirty and

833
01:02:31,35 --> 01:02:34,22
they're starting to seriously pissed off
and they're figuring out that they've been

834
01:02:34,23 --> 01:02:38,23
screwed and so they're getting together
with the people who were fighting back

835
01:02:38,24 --> 01:02:41,14
against the Vietnam War and it's

836
01:02:41,15 --> 01:02:45,74
a very interesting intergenerational
playing and it's and it plays out very

837
01:02:45,75 --> 01:02:52,29
interestingly unlike demographics of talk
radio and media and there's just layers

838
01:02:52,30 --> 01:02:57,27
of interest in weirdness to it but I don't
know what to do about it other than just

839
01:02:57,82 --> 01:03:03,34
acknowledge it thank you your kids your
grandkids out here there you go by some

840
01:03:03,35 --> 01:03:10,33
of the. You don't look like you're
seventy years old was I meet him by the

841
01:03:10,34 --> 01:03:17,18
way so thank you thank
you what So you've been

842
01:03:17,19 --> 01:03:20,93
speaking to. Step back from
that you've been speaking

843
01:03:21,71 --> 01:03:26,48
a bubble economy I was wondering if you
think or accuse you stimulus efforts have

844
01:03:26,49 --> 01:03:30,99
any merit and yet circumstances Yeah
well we went from losing seven hundred

845
01:03:31,00 --> 01:03:35,28
thousand jobs a month to lose in or to
gaining over one hundred thousand jobs

846
01:03:35,29 --> 01:03:37,14
a month with roughly

847
01:03:37,15 --> 01:03:41,41
a four hundred million dollars or billion
dollar. Four hundred billion dollars

848
01:03:41,42 --> 01:03:47,44
stimulus and had it been three times
that I think we could have we could have

849
01:03:47,45 --> 01:03:52,51
gotten out of the whole problem is as I as
I know the book our economic systems are

850
01:03:52,52 --> 01:03:56,56
still broken. People say
well you know look at F.D.R.

851
01:03:56,57 --> 01:04:01,98
He went from thirty five forty percent
unemployment in thirty two by the time World

852
01:04:01,99 --> 01:04:06,84
War One started you know him he got it he
cut it in half in the first three years

853
01:04:06,85 --> 01:04:10,35
of his administration which is amazing
and then thirty seventy dial back and

854
01:04:10,36 --> 01:04:14,02
started getting bad again and then by by
the time we got into World War One it was

855
01:04:14,03 --> 01:04:16,71
down to what twelve percent I think something
like that eleven or twelve percent of

856
01:04:16,72 --> 01:04:22,30
the still was but and World War one to get
to zero functionally Well World War One

857
01:04:22,34 --> 01:04:27,11
actually the World War two thank you
well War two was the biggest government

858
01:04:27,12 --> 01:04:30,94
program government spending program ever
so if you want proof the government

859
01:04:30,95 --> 01:04:33,69
stimulus programs work just like
a World War two I mean it's

860
01:04:33,70 --> 01:04:37,98
a god awful way to do it but and Reagan
did the same thing he borrowed three

861
01:04:37,99 --> 01:04:39,01
trillion dollars you spent

862
01:04:39,02 --> 01:04:44,62
a trillion of it on Star Wars and boom you
know the economy popped as a result of

863
01:04:44,63 --> 01:04:45,20
a George W.

864
01:04:45,21 --> 01:04:48,85
Bush did the same thing he spent over two
trillion dollars on two wars if you had

865
01:04:48,86 --> 01:04:52,93
had those two wars that recession that we
had in two thousand would have been the

866
01:04:52,94 --> 01:04:58,48
Great Depression of the whole decade so
yeah it does when when money is cheap

867
01:04:58,49 --> 01:05:03,15
government should be borrowing and spending
when money is expensive government and

868
01:05:03,19 --> 01:05:06,74
the new economy is going well government
should be should be paying down the debt

869
01:05:06,78 --> 01:05:10,52
and in pain and and backing
off there's a there's a cycle

870
01:05:10,53 --> 01:05:14,37
a natural and healthy cycle to this if you
want the expert on this it's Stephanie

871
01:05:14,38 --> 01:05:15,75
Calton she was on my program

872
01:05:15,76 --> 01:05:20,96
a couple days ago she's one of the leaders
of the modern monetary theory group if

873
01:05:20,97 --> 01:05:24,88
you just Google modern modern
monetary theory she runs

874
01:05:24,89 --> 01:05:29,86
a blog called New Economic Perspectives
dot org That's brilliant it's brilliant

875
01:05:29,98 --> 01:05:33,41
thank you so ma'am. There is

876
01:05:33,42 --> 01:05:38,66
a growing movement among universities and
other institutions to divest themselves.

877
01:05:41,33 --> 01:05:46,92
And other. Fossil fuels do
you think this can make

878
01:05:46,93 --> 01:05:51,22
a genuine difference in our movement
toward greener energy yeah I do.

879
01:05:54,86 --> 01:05:58,69
It Every little bit helps every little bit
helps I think the divestment movement is

880
01:05:58,70 --> 01:06:02,78
a good one anything that rallies people
around anything that gets people out in the

881
01:06:02,79 --> 01:06:09,06
streets anything that turns people into
activists I'm in favor of so yes sir last

882
01:06:09,07 --> 01:06:15,43
question Oh thank you I
was just waiting. So my

883
01:06:16,06 --> 01:06:21,90
my question and hasn't been asked yet and
I was just wondering how all everything

884
01:06:21,91 --> 01:06:24,36
we've been talking about I think has

885
01:06:24,86 --> 01:06:29,13
a large part in the fact that we don't get
our voices heard on the media I mean we

886
01:06:29,14 --> 01:06:33,79
talk at hours I'm sorry we don't get our
voices heard on the media yes on the media

887
01:06:33,80 --> 01:06:35,88
that's on everywhere radio on the T.V.

888
01:06:35,92 --> 01:06:42,78
And since we stopped enforcing. And now
we're about to lose the Internet what can

889
01:06:42,79 --> 01:06:48,83
we do to get or voices heard on the you
know and on the media here's the here's the

890
01:06:48,84 --> 01:06:50,46
sequence that I see you raise

891
01:06:50,47 --> 01:06:52,45
a really good point I've
talked about this on the air

892
01:06:52,46 --> 01:06:54,18
a number of times Bernie
and I talk about it

893
01:06:54,19 --> 01:06:58,30
a lot he's one of the few guys in Congress
who actually gets at him and Bob and as

894
01:06:58,31 --> 01:07:04,70
and Debbie Stabenow. If we got money out
of politics people say well you know if

895
01:07:04,71 --> 01:07:09,31
you pass the twenty at the moment and and
you say that money is not protected by

896
01:07:09,32 --> 01:07:13,12
the First Amendment and corporations
stopped by the fourteenth Amendment that

897
01:07:13,13 --> 01:07:18,73
doesn't do anything that's true there
would be no instant consequence but I can

898
01:07:18,74 --> 01:07:24,67
tell you that the members of the House and
Senate who are the Republicans that I

899
01:07:24,68 --> 01:07:27,04
know and that I interact I live in D.C.

900
01:07:27,05 --> 01:07:33,32
I do a political show I get I don't know
very many of well but I know a lot of. In

901
01:07:33,33 --> 01:07:37,66
a heartbeat they would love to get
rid of having to spend six hours

902
01:07:37,67 --> 01:07:43,90
a day begging for money Republicans and
Democrats so the legislation and this is

903
01:07:43,91 --> 01:07:48,50
why my cane Feingold passed with huge
bipartisan support which was turned you know

904
01:07:48,51 --> 01:07:53,42
rolled over by the Supreme Court by the by
Citizens United so when the Republicans

905
01:07:53,43 --> 01:07:57,56
get the money out up politics then
they're no longer beholden to the big

906
01:07:57,57 --> 01:08:01,34
corporations and the NO want to hold
to the rich people when they no longer

907
01:08:01,35 --> 01:08:05,24
beholden of the big corporations of the
rich people then they start enforcing laws

908
01:08:05,25 --> 01:08:09,11
that are actually on the books right now
like the Sherman Antitrust Act and they

909
01:08:09,12 --> 01:08:13,01
start breaking some of these large these
large monopolies up because these large

910
01:08:13,02 --> 01:08:18,28
monopolies are not good for our economy
they're not good for our body politic so I

911
01:08:18,29 --> 01:08:24,08
really I don't think I'm being Pollyanna
ish to think that if we can pull this core

912
01:08:24,09 --> 01:08:27,60
cancer out that is it's
I mean we can call it

913
01:08:27,61 --> 01:08:31,05
a cancer it's more like the planet is
distorting the entire solar system or

914
01:08:31,06 --> 01:08:35,22
whatever I mean there's some metaphor for
it but it's this huge distorting factor

915
01:08:35,69 --> 01:08:41,38
of billionaire and corporate money get
that out then the rational things like hey

916
01:08:41,39 --> 01:08:44,83
let's make our meat let's localize
our media again I mean you had

917
01:08:44,84 --> 01:08:48,81
a town in Utah couple of years ago
where they had a chlorine spill of

918
01:08:48,82 --> 01:08:52,21
a train car going through there's
five radio stations in this town not

919
01:08:52,22 --> 01:08:52,97
a single one had

920
01:08:52,98 --> 01:08:56,63
a live human being on the radio station
they couldn't warn people to evacuate their

921
01:08:56,64 --> 01:09:02,83
houses this is nuts right and so I mean
from a public policy point of view from

922
01:09:02,84 --> 01:09:04,01
a safety point of view from

923
01:09:04,02 --> 01:09:07,11
a national security point of view from
an economic point of view and from

924
01:09:07,12 --> 01:09:10,52
a political point of view it makes no
sense for us to have the kind of media

925
01:09:10,53 --> 01:09:16,62
consolidation we have right now and and you
can track it all back you know you can

926
01:09:16,63 --> 01:09:20,54
track it all back to to Reagan dance in
the dance that is big donors where we're

927
01:09:20,55 --> 01:09:25,04
doing and we get money out of politics I
think that's the next step. Tom Hartman

928
01:09:25,05 --> 01:09:28,56
will be signing books to right here at
the table please join me in thanking Tom

929
01:09:28,57 --> 01:09:29,36
Hartman pretty hard.